How do we get more pressure from the DLine?
Question for the board or anyone who has knowledge of these matters. While I don’t think our grow a DT plan has really panned out, I don’t think this is entirely a recruiting issue since other programs with less talent on their DL seem to have better success in pressuring QBs than Michigan does. So what is Michigan doing wrong with what we are asking our DTs and DEs to do? Seems to me that throughout Harbaugh’s tenure that has been the most glaring issue in most if not all the games we have lost. Even looking back at games against OSU, the two years we kept the game close were 2016 and 2017 when Hurst was out there wreaking havoc and forcing QBs to throw faster than they wanted to.
So with the limitations of our current DL not having individual star players, is there a way to scheme more pressure from the DLine? Or do we just have to wait for players to hopefully develop into something more than they are now?
November 29th, 2020 at 12:50 PM ^
Say what you want about Brady Hoke. But boy did he know how to recruit and develop the defensive line
November 29th, 2020 at 1:01 PM ^
Wasn’t quarterback really the only position he missed on?
November 29th, 2020 at 1:16 PM ^
Yes. That 2016 team was 90% hokes recruiting on the field. He might have been decent if he threw out the man all Michigan shit and kept a spread but who knows.
November 29th, 2020 at 3:55 PM ^
He also missed on offensive line quite a bit too, especially the center position.
November 30th, 2020 at 6:05 AM ^
Also, who was our best RB that he recruited? Deveon Smith?
November 29th, 2020 at 1:40 PM ^
And/or Mattison
November 29th, 2020 at 2:07 PM ^
Wasn’t his tenure as D Line coach under Moeller & Carr considered pretty good?
November 29th, 2020 at 2:08 PM ^
If only Pipkins stayed healthy
November 29th, 2020 at 4:58 PM ^
He also knew how to loose to Michigan State
December 1st, 2020 at 2:49 PM ^
He sure as shit did
November 29th, 2020 at 12:57 PM ^
Get real sized interior DL..not beefed up DEs and LBs..to me its the biggest downfall of Don Brown
the B10 is not the ACC, you cant win if you are undersized because the B10 has alot of power run dedicated offenses.
November 29th, 2020 at 1:09 PM ^
Agreed! Look at the best team in the acc. Clemson’s defensive scheme is the same as Don Brown’s. They recruit DT’s! No two ways about it, they destroyed Bama with an NFL DLine running the same scheme and have gone to the CFP winning it twice the last five years.
November 29th, 2020 at 2:18 PM ^
Clemson is way more diverse than Don Brown’s Michigan. Actually, the beauty of what Venebles does is his adjusting scheme to match personnel strengths. Last year, Clemson base was a 3 high 3-3. This year he runs more 4 man fronts due to their depth at DL, though their apex players are much more safety size than true 4-3 OLB size. He runs some match quarters and variations of cover 1, but he runs a ton of cover 3 as well which he called 3 strong and 3 weak (as opposed to Saban’s cover 3 and cover 6).
November 29th, 2020 at 2:31 PM ^
He actually calls it 3 cloud and 3 sky. We call it 3 strong/weak (or blue and blue spin), but the point still stands haha. That’s what I get for posting while tagging film in the off-season.
November 29th, 2020 at 1:10 PM ^
Donovan Jeter: 6'4" - 318
Chris Hinton: 6'4" - 305
Mazi Smith: 6'3" - 305
Julius Welschof: 6'6" - 286
Michigan is not really that undersized at DT. Only Kemp is truly undersized.
November 29th, 2020 at 1:19 PM ^
Not to mention, Mo Hurst played at 280-290 and was dominant at Michigan. Size ain't everything. Michigan simply failed to recruit and develop good DTs and that's a problem.
November 29th, 2020 at 1:25 PM ^
Dwumfour could have been good, but he couldn't stay healthy. Hinton and Smith could still be good, you can't give up on a DT before their third year of playing. Welschof has flashed some this season, so that is promising. Our biggest problem was losing Solomon and Dwumfour. I don't think those two would make DT a strong suit, but they'd be adequate, and with adequate DTs and healthy Hutchinson and Paye, the line would be more than good enough. Hopefully they hit the portal and bring in one or two guys that can contribute, and I think we could be optimistic about DT next year. Unfortunately we will then be losing our DEs. But maybe the playing time the young DEs are getting this year will serve us well next year.
November 29th, 2020 at 2:00 PM ^
DTs destroy plays; both in the passing and run game. i will take a mo hurst over a good rushing DE any day of the week.
November 29th, 2020 at 12:57 PM ^
As has been rehashed on this blog numerous times, without individual interior linemen who can demand and hold up to double teams while manhandling individual blocks, there is nothing that can be done that doesn't expose some exploitable weakness.... Honestly the more interesting question is why our offense is so holistically incapable of taking advantage of opponents defensive weaknesses....
November 29th, 2020 at 12:57 PM ^
Get better dline players.. and then coach them up
November 29th, 2020 at 4:09 PM ^
Get better dline players.
We currently have eight 4-star d-lineman on the roster and only two of them are true freshman (McGregor & Harrell). That means we have 6 that are in their 2nd, 3rd, or 4th years. That also doesn't even include our best one, Paye, since he was a 3-star. We've got plenty of them. Many teams would love to have those numbers. Getting them is not the problem. But, IDing the right ones, developing them, and retaining them is the problem.
The injuries to Paye and Hutch are a problem. The combination of missing on Solomon and not having a backup plan in that class with Hudson moving to o-line and transferring, Malone-Hatcher and Irving-Bey medically retiring and/or transferring, Hinton, Smith, & Vilain not yet living up to their recruiting profiles, and not having a single DT in last year's class are glaring issues when all taken into account as a whole.
If Hutch returns and he and Vilain, Hinton, Smith, Ojabo, & McGregor are able to make developmental improvements there's no reason to have a problem there in 2021 if they stay healthy. Recruiting wise that's six 4-star guys, five of which are borderline top 100 recruits. That doesn't even include guys like Welschof, Upshaw, Morris, Newburg, Harrell, Lewis, & Jenkis for added depth. But, all those are giant "ifs".
November 29th, 2020 at 9:41 PM ^
But they are all DEs.
November 30th, 2020 at 1:12 PM ^
I think there have been a total of 2 true DT’s signed in the last 4 years. It’s unbelievable.
November 29th, 2020 at 1:02 PM ^
Don Brown needs good linebacker play to quickly diagnose where they need to be. Whether it be filling gaps or what have you. It works brilliant when you have a Devin Bush or a Jabrill playing Viper but the LB's look a bit lost or just slow on diagnosing where they need to be. Possibly not trusting themselves and so many missed tackles. I think it helps the D-line because the opposing team's O-linemen are so worried about where the LB's are coming from but not really getting much LB pressure or not having the right personnel at LB that can shine seems to be affecting the entire defense. Guys have to cover longer at corner, etc.
November 29th, 2020 at 1:10 PM ^
The lbers have been lost this year. I have watched them run out of the gap the rb was coming into far to many times. Missed tackles and getting ran over, all attitude, effort and nasty edge they lack!
What changed, the lber coach
November 29th, 2020 at 1:06 PM ^
Better players and a better DL coach. I’m not sure how Nua is still employed, he’s done a horrendous since the day he started. As for this season, they are what they are. We can’t send any extra players to help them because our secondary is equally as bad if not worse. The only thing that could save this defense is the ability to generate turnovers. But Don Brown has proven to be inept in that department since he got here. Which is extremely confusing in of itself because of his Uber aggressive style.
November 29th, 2020 at 1:14 PM ^
Dline coach, lber coach and safeties coach... Turnovers won’t come till we teach our db’s to get their heads around and start attacking the ball! Get ball hawking corners in man coverage that attack the ball more than they hug wr’s and get pi calls the pass defense will get a lot better.
They have looked far better the last two weeks but look at the receivers they have faced and it is self explanatory. Osu is going to hammer this weak ass defense. Remember that hang 100 on them. Bet they go for it...
November 29th, 2020 at 2:17 PM ^
Nua was a huge downgrade from Mattison
November 29th, 2020 at 1:06 PM ^
Is it coaching? I watch our d line try to get pressure and it looks like they literally don't know how to shed blockers
November 29th, 2020 at 1:12 PM ^
We need a DC who understands and promotes the DL as the core to the D, the reputation and attitude of the D. For all of Hoke's shortcomings at clock management, QB development, he was and will always loved by his DL.
I wasn't happy when Washington left for OSU, but rehire him as DC and see what he can do recruiting Ohio and PN. Hire an offensive minded HC and let him focus on skill players while Washington and Warriner focus on the lines.
November 29th, 2020 at 1:36 PM ^
How about recruiting B10 capable DL's!
November 29th, 2020 at 1:47 PM ^
Don't give Don Brown or Jim Harbaugh a paycheck if they come home with an "L"
November 29th, 2020 at 1:56 PM ^
Having experienced players and corners/secondary with better coverage.
November 29th, 2020 at 2:01 PM ^
This is the biggest downfall of the entire defense. We’re playing with guys with the exception of Paye, that have no ability to beat a blocker in a one on one situation. Kemp, Mazi, Hinton, Speight, the German dude, Jeter, Villian, Obajdo s/p?....none of these guys get to the QB. None get tackles for loss, None are fast, none can “ get skinny” and breakthrough a gap like Hurst could.
They don’t seem violent. There’re very passive and can’t disengage from blocks quickly. Why? Is it lack of weight room strength, poor technique, non-aggressive football personalities, slow feet? It all adds up to a dline that gets rag-dolled and man handled with ease.
November 29th, 2020 at 2:15 PM ^
Soft like marshmallows!
November 29th, 2020 at 2:02 PM ^
Put Hinton on the bench.
November 29th, 2020 at 10:53 PM ^
What, and replace him with Speight?
November 29th, 2020 at 2:12 PM ^
tl;dr
Recruit better players. Hire better coaches. Profit.
November 29th, 2020 at 2:13 PM ^
Recruit better talent.
Coach them better.
November 29th, 2020 at 2:14 PM ^
Hire New Head Coach
Recruit better players
Coach Them Up
November 29th, 2020 at 2:25 PM ^
I’m convinced the entire defensive coaching staff, and Nua in particular, are totally incompetent. There are enough holes to prevent the defense from being good/dominant, but there’s enough talent to not be a a turnstile either. They just need to clean house - salt the earth and burn the whole fucking thing down.
November 29th, 2020 at 2:26 PM ^
Recruit more dline to add quality depth!
November 29th, 2020 at 2:27 PM ^
We get a new Head Coach.
November 29th, 2020 at 2:35 PM ^
You get more pressure by recruiting better players and when you have those players you keep them on the roster and don’t watch them walk right into the transfer portal and finally you develop those players with better coaching than they are getting at Michigan. It’s really pretty simple. It’s not like Michigan is only able to recruit 2 ⭐️ players and have to hope they found a diamond in the rough. Although they run the program like that. Which makes absolutely no sense. But if all else fails just put a fullback on the d-line and hope for the best. That’s why you pay a head coach 7M+ a year for brilliant ideas like that. What could go wrong??
November 29th, 2020 at 5:28 PM ^
But the fullback runs through walls at practice, has a mean-looking haircut, and, well, he's a FULLBACK. So he has to play as much as possible, right?
November 29th, 2020 at 2:41 PM ^
Honestly the dline play wasn’t even that bad yesterday. Sure they weren’t making plays but this defense is designed for the linebackers to make plays. And they suck!!!!
November 29th, 2020 at 3:23 PM ^
November 29th, 2020 at 10:46 PM ^
He’s probably in a 9 technique and the specific call has him aligning there. He’s not doing that on his own. You absolutely can get to the QB from a 9. You also need to know what his post snap assignment and responsibility is. He will likely have a job based on if the tackle fans to him, down blocks or pass sets.
November 29th, 2020 at 3:34 PM ^
Without watching film, it seems we don’t have much of a burst off the ball. Technique and hand position are key to establish leverage.
look no further than my follow shamrock, mike Martin. Dude was fast, under the pads and just so explosive because he established positioning with lineman. Even if they aren’t able to drive the OL back, just getting them to pop-up stops their momentum forward.
November 29th, 2020 at 3:54 PM ^
Get better lineman